Container forming and assembly apparatus

ABSTRACT

AN APPARATUS AND METHOD ARE PROVIDED FOR FORMING CONTAINER ASSEMBLIES OF COMPONENTS, ONE OF WHICH COMPRISES A CLOSURE OR CAP MADE OF SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL. THE CLOSURE IS PREDETERMINATELY DISPOSED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE END OF A CONTAINER SUCH AS THE OPEN NECK OF A BOTTLE OR A CONTAINER HAVING A CLOSURE OR END WALL ALREADY ASSEMBLED THEREWITH. THE CONTAINER AND CLOSURE ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER AND THE CLOSURE IS DEFORMED IN SITU AGAINST THE CONTAINER IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO RETAIN IT IN ASSEMBLY THEREWITH. THE CLOSURE MAY ALSO BE WELDED OR SEALED TO THE SIDE WALL OF THE CONTAINER OR A SEPARATE CLOSURE PREASSEMBLED WITH THE CONTAINER.   IN ONE FORM, CLOSURES ARE FORMED IN A MOLD OR DIE AND ARE RETAINED AGAINST THE WALL OF THE CAVITY THEREOF FOR ASSEMBLY WITH A CONTAINER EMPLOYING THE MOLD OR DIE AS A PREPOSITIONING DEVICE. IN ANOTHER FORM, CLOSURES FOR CONTAINERS ARE FORMED IN SITU AGAINST THE OPEN END OF THE CONTAINER OR A CLOSURE ASSEMBLED WITH THE CONTAINER SO AS TO FORM A SHEET-LIKE SEALING AND PROTECTING MEANS FOR THE CONTAINER OF MATERIAL DISPOSED AGAINST THE END WALL OF THE CONTAINER.

Oct. 5, 1971 J. H. LEMELSON 3,609,940

CONTAINER FORMING AND ASSEMBLY APPARATUS Filed Jan. 23, 1968 51/ Fig. 6

Fig.3

INVENT OR.

Jerome H.Lemelson United States Patent Office Patented Oct. 5, 1971 3,609,940 CONTAINER FORMING AND ASSEMBLY APPARATUS Jerome H. Lemelson, 85 Rector St., Metuchen, NJ. 08840 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 621,502,

Mar. 8, 1967. This application Jan. 23, 1968, Ser.

No. 699,922 I Int. Cl. B6711 5/00 US. Cl. 53290 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus and method are provided for forming container assemblies of components, one of which cornprises a closure or cap made of sheet-like material. The closure is predeterminately disposed in alignment with the end of a container such as the open neck of a bottle or a container having a closure or end wall already assembled therewith. The container and closure are brought together and the closure is deformed in situ against the container in such a manner as to retain it in assembly therewith. The closure may also be Welded or sealed to the side wall of the container or a separate closure preassembled with the container.

In one form, closures are formed in a mold or die and are retained against the wall of the cavity thereof for assembly with a container employing the mold or die as a prepositioning device. In another form, closures for containers are formed in situ against the open end of the container or a closure assembled with the container so as to form a sheet-like sealing and protecting means for the container of material disposed against the end wall of the container.

RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 621,502 filed Mar. 8, 1967, for Product Container and Method of Producing Same now U.S. Pat. 3,364,648 which has as a parent application Ser. No. 93,989 filed Mar. 7, 1961, and now US. Pat. 3,112,824.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming container assemblies particularly assemblies which include a bottle or canister and means for sealing the open end of same.

The conventional method of producing sealed container's such as bottles or jars is to preform a closure such as a crown cap and to provide a sealing material bonded to the inside surface thereof which, when the cap is assembled with the neck of the container, serves to hermetically, vacuum or pressure seal the contents. This technique as well as those involving the turning of a threaded closure against the threaded side wall of the container is suitable for many applications but requires a number of finishing operations to form the closure and furthermore requires the use of automatic and relatively complex apparatus for aligning the preformed closures with a transfer device, seizing said closures and operating the transfer device to locate them in alignment with the end of the container and thereafter efi'ect assembly and sealing with the container.

This invention employs novel apparatus and techniques for forming special container assemblies having certain advantages over the assemblies of the prior art both as to structure and the manner in which they are formed. Sheetlike closure material is preformed and predeterminately deformed against the end of the container or container assembly or is formed in situ from a flat sheet of material thereagainst. The sheet material so formed may serve as a closure per se or as a means for retaining articles against the end wall or closure for a container. In a particular form of the current invention, container closures are formed in a mold or die which mold or die operates thereafter in a manner to assemble the closures with a container so as to greatly simplify the fabrication procedure.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method for forming container assemblies.

Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for forming closures of sheet material either in the immediate vicinity of a container adapted to receive a freshly formed closure or in situ on said container so as to substantially reduce the number of operations and the handling of components of the assembly.

Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for forming a new type of container assembly which includes a cap or closure which is sealed to the wall of a container.

Another object is to provide new and improved structures in container assemblies.

With the above and such other objects in view as may hereafter more fully appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view in cross section of a retaining device such as a mold or die having a partially finished closure held thereby in prepositioned relationship with the end-of a container;

FIG. 2 is a side view with parts broken away and sectioned for clarity of the closure of FIG. 1 prepositioned with respect to a container and also showing apparatus for permanently deforming a portion of the closure against the container;

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of a container assembly illustrating the closure of FIGS. 1 and 2 in cross section and deformably assembled with the end of the container;

FIG. 4 is a side view with parts broken away for clarity of a container having a closure and article disposed against the closure and a sheet material deformed over and around the article and closure with means for scoring and/ or severing the deformed sheet material from the remainder of the sheet;

FIG. 5 is a side view with parts broken away for clarity of a modified form of assembly and apparatus of the type shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side view with parts broken away for clarity of a modified form of the apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate components of an apparatus for assembling containers of components, one of which may be formed by the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 or preformed and handled thereby. In FIG. 1, a device 40 has a cavity 41 protruding inwardly from its lower surface and a plurality of passageways 42 extending to the surface of a cavity wall. Supported within and abutting the wall of the cavity 41 is a sheet-like cup-shaped member 11 which is preferably held by suction applied to one or more of the passageways 42 in member 40. The cupshaped member 11 has a circumscribing side wall 12 which depends downwardly and outwardly to a rim portion 12a which is shown as briefly flared outwardly.

In the operation of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, the member 40* is either moved into alignment with the end of a container or has containers fed therebelow to intermittently align the end of each with the open end of the cup-like member 11. Thereafter member 40 and/ or the container are moved to bring the two together for assembly purposes. A power operated lineal actuator such as an air or hydraulically operated ram, may be connected to device 40 for moving same to position member 11 against the container as shown.

In FIG. 2 a container is shown having a cap or closure 16 disposed against the rim of its neck and the cup-shaped member or closure 11 has been disposed with its side wall 12 extending against and around closure 16 and the side wall of container '10 as illustrated. Thereafter, the side wall 12 of member 11 is permanently deformed inwardly against the side wall of closure 1'6 and the side wall of container 10 to form a container assembly of the type illustrated in FIG. 3 whereby member 11 is mechanically and frictionally secured to the container assembly.

Deformation of the lower portion of the side wall 12 of cup-shaped closure 11 may be effected by the use of a pair of semi-circular dies denoted 43a and 43b in FIG. 10 which may operate in one or more manners to deform the sheet material. If the sheet material comprising member 11 is a thermoplastic polymer capable of being thermally deformed the dies 43a and 43b may be advanced to engage, heat and deform portions of the side wall of member 11 inwardly against the closure 16 and/ or the side wall of container 10. The dies are each shaped with sheetdeforming portions 44 and 45 which protrude outwardly from the inner surfaces of the dies and serve to engage and deform the lower portion 12a. of the side wall of closure 11 against and under the closure 16 and a portion 11b of member 11 over and around the upper rim of closure 16 to form a tight-fitting closure assembly as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may also operate to provide a sheet-like closure or cap in assembly with the open end of a container such as a bottle, can or jar having a beaded neck or rim which could be defined by the portion 16 illustrated in FIG. 3, though preferably would be of substantially lesser height or thickness than '16. The closure 11 may also be subject to substantial variation in shape and height whereby the upper portion or top wall 11c thereof may extend substantially across the end of the container 10 or closure to the surface of the closure 16 therefore. In FIG. 2, an article A such as a premium is shown disposed against the upper surface of closure 16 and is held within a volume defined by the upper wall 11c of cup-shaped member 11 and member 16 when the member 11 is assembled as shown in FIG. 3.

A number of variations in the operation of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the structure of the assembly shown in 'FIG. 3 are noted. The apparatus member 40* may comprise a vacuum or pressure forming die into the cavity 41 of which is formed cup-shaped member 11 from sheet material prior to the described assembly operation. Accordingly, member '40 may be part of a reciprocating or rotary thermoforming or die-stamping equipment which is operative to first form container closures such as 11 and retain same in the cavity in which they are formed after which the apparatus is movable to assemble the closure so formed with a container as described.

If the member 40' is comprised of an inner cylindrical portion 401: which is reciprocally movable in a bore 41' in the outer portion 40b-of the die or handling device 40, said inner portion 40a may move downwardly to advance member 11 against the end of the container 10 or closure 16 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and to retain same thereagainst while a modified form of the dies 43a and 43b operates against the lower portion 12a of the side wall 12 of the closure '11 to inwardly deform same as described.

Notation 14 refers to a circular seal between the deformed side wall 12 of member 11 and either the neck of container 10 or the side wall of closure 16 which seal is provided preferably during the deforming action by heat or other suitable means. For example, if the material of which member 11 is made comprises a heat scalable plastic resin such as an ionomer resin, the application of suitable heat to the side wall 12 through dies 43a and 43b applied while compressing said side wall against the side Wall of container 10, a closure of beaded portion thereof as defined by notation 16 will be operative to effect a heat sealing bond between portion 12 of member 11 and the surface against which it is compressed. If the side wall of the container 10 or member 16 is coated with or comprises a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, polystyrene or other suitable resin, and member 11 is also made of a thermoplastic resin, than heat applied against the surface of side wall 12 of 11 by a suitably shaped circular die or protrusion from the inside walls of members 43a and 43b operative to effect a circumscribing weld line between the two members for hermetically sealing the Volume beneath member '11.

The forming dies 43a and 43b may be operative to move together from an open attitude to contact, seal and/or deform the side wall of member 11 against the side wall of the container and/ or its closure and thereafter separate sufficiently and, if necessary, retract upwardly in an automatic cycle of movements to permit the side wall to clear said dies and a new container to be positioned therebetween for the next operation. The dies 43a and 43b may also be operative to move together and spin-deform the side wall 12 of the closure 11, the spinning action of protruding portions 44 and 45 of the dies or otherwise suitably shaped tooling being operative to permanently deform the sheet material inwardly against the container side wall while the upper portion of member 11 is held by the tool 40 or a suitably shaped holding device which predeterminately retains member 11 in position during the spin-forming operation thereon. Depending on the nature of the material comprising member 11, it may be heated during or prior to spinning so as to soften and render its material in an easily deformable condition. If the material comprising member 11 is a thermoplastic material it may be spin-formed to shape with or without the application of heat, depending on its characteristics. For example, a material such as an ABS acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer may be deformed to shape without being heated to a thermally deformable condition.

The material comprising member 11 may also be sheet metal such as sheet steel or sheet aluminum which is deformed against the side wall of the container by spinning or die-shaping as described or by a combination of these actions.

In another modified form of the invention, the dies 4 3a and 43b may contain properly shaped, relatively sharpedged protrusions adapted to either trim and remove the lower portion of the side wall 12 after it has been de-' formed against the container neck or to provide a circular score line around said side wall so that the closure 11 may be easily removed by twisting the closure 11 with respect to the container 10.

Thin-walled closures of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 may be preformed and individually fed prior to assembly to a prepositioning and holding device such as the cavity containing member 40 of FIG. 1.. They may also be pressure or vacuum formed, die stamped or injection molded directly in the cavity 41 of the member 40 which serves as a die or mold and also as the means for locating and disposing said closure against the end wall of a container or a closure for a container as illustrated in FIG. 2; A closure such as 11 which is vacuum, pressure or die formed to shape from sheet material in the cayity'of a female die or mold such as 40, may be so formed from blanks of sheet material or from a larger sheet with the closure portion 11 thereof die-cut against the face of the die or mold 40 to provide, for example, a Shape such as that illustrated in FIG. 1.

- FIGS. 4-6 illustrate a modified form ofapparatus-for producing closures in situ about the end of the container to be used to close off and seal said end to retain one or more articles A against a closure 16 already assembled on the upper rim of the container neck. In FIG. 4, the 5 upper end or neck of a container -is shown protruding through a hole oropening-46H in a conveyorbelt 46. The relative location of the belt 46: and-the. container; 10" as illustrated in FIG. 4 is effected by moving either or both the belt and container towards each other; prefer- 1O ably, although not necessarily, while; the two are: moving in the same direction at the'same speed. Resting against the upper surface of belt 46 is a sheet 40"of thermally deformableplasticmaterial which'is shown softened by a heating: means H. disposed above the sheet' and draped over and-around articleAf and closure 16-with a portion 51 of said sheet deformed inwardly understhe' lower edge of 16. Notation 16 may also referto the beaded upper rim of a container. below which sheet material 50 isdeformed by vacuum or die-forming means asdescribed. 20 The deformed portion 52 of sheet 50 may also serve as a closure per se to close off: the open end of container 10, assuming that notation 16 is the beaded rim of said container defining the wall of the aperture thereof.

After the portions 51 and 52 of thesheet 50are deformedas illustrated in FIG. 4; the sharp edge portion'or portions 4 8-of one or more cutting dies 47a and 47-12 are brought to bear against the portion 51 of the deformed part of the sheet and, as the diesare caused-to rotate, the edge portion 48 of eachserve to sever the deformedportion of sheet 50 from the remainder of the sheet. Thereafter the dies 47a and 47b'are openedand the conveyor or form 46 is either reciprocally separated or guided in an endless. path away from the container 10.

In FIG. 5, a closure 16 for containers is shown fn'ctionally retained on a form or plug 49 which is mounted on the upper surface of a conveyor belt 46 and one or more articles A" are shown disposed against the upper surface of 16. Thermally deformable sheet'material 50 is shown deformed over and around the article A" andthe closure 16 and the lower portion :51 of the deformed portion 52 of the sheet 50 and is deformed around the lower edge of closure 16 as illustrated. Thereafter, cutting dies 47a and 4712 are automatically positioned and caused to effect severance of the deformed closure portion 52' of the sheet from the remainder of the sheet as described above.

A modified form of apparatus for draping and vacuum forming a sheet of material over and around a container closure and an article P disposed against its upper wall, it is shown in FIG. 6. The first article or closure 16 is 50 supported on a form or plug 49 attached to the upper surface of a plate or conveyor belt 46'. The apparatus 57 includes a duct or housing 58 supporting member 461' from below on the upper rim of '58 which is shown defined -by a resilient gasket 59 which forms a vacuum seal against the under surface of member 46'. The second duct 54 having a circumscribing side wall 55 and a lower rim 56 is brought to bear against the upper surface of sheet 50 outwardly of the assembly comprising members 16 and P so as to drape said sheet over the assembled mem- 60 bers and to compress portions of said sheet which are peripheral of said assembled members against the upper surface of belt or plate 46 as illustrated. The apparatus of FIG. 6 also includes means (not shown) for applying vacuum to the volume 58' defined by the lower duct 58 and the application of said vacuum operative to draw air from the volume surrounded by a deformed portion 50' of the sheet through holes 46H in member 46-. If the sheet 50 is heated to a thermally deformable condition, the deformed portion 50 thereof will be drawn tightly over and around the members 16 and P to form a closure and assembly much like that illustrated in FIG. 3. Severance of the deformed portion 50" of the sheet 50 from the remainder of the sheet may be effected by rotating the 6 duct 55 and moving same in such-a manner as to cause the inwardly protruding knife-like flange portion '56 of the lower rim of 55m cut the lower side wall of the portion 50" of the sheet from the remainder of' the sheet, preferably the portion thereof which is deformed under the lower edge of member 16to provide a portion-similar to 13 of FIG; 3 for retainingthesheet' in assembly with the-article. P and member 16. To effect this cutting. action, the member 55 may be moved radially with respect to plug 49 as it? rotates so as to bring the sharp edge pro-- trusion -56 into contact with the lower. side wall of the deformed portion ofthe sheet and to deformsame, if necessary inwardly under. the lower rim ofmember 16 just prior to severing the closure from therest'of thesheet.v

The package andcomponent formingapparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 may be operated to. move the machinecomponents thereof as described by the director indirect drive and operation of one-or more ser-vo devices such as air driven, hydraulic or electric motors or lineal actuators. These servo devices may have their output shafts directlyconnectedto move the moldor holding means 40 for closures, the forming'dies 43a, 43b, the spincutting means 47a and 47b, either or both the clamping. and support means for the sheet,- 54 and57 or thedescribed auxiliary means for. forming or holding the .sheetmaterial orclosures. The-servos .may also be connected to'saiddevices through linkages'orother mechanical means and may be predeterminately operatedin sequence bymeans of a program controller therefore such as a multi-circuit timer or limit switches actuated by the movement of themachine componentsto operate the various motor controls in sequence and interlocked to the movement of the sheet or closures fed thereto.

In operation of the apparatus of FIG. 6, sheet 50 is either conveyed above belt 46' by means (not' shown) for driving said sheetfrom a supply coil or extrusion machine operative to form said sheet so as to intermittently position fresh portions of the sheet over" the article or form 49 between dies 55=and'58.- The reciprocal movement of either or both said dies 55 and 58 to engage and compress the peripheral portion of the sheet surrounding the form 49 against the plate or belt 46' as illustrated in FIG. 6 to permit the sheet to be further deformed thereagainst by pressure and/or suction means as described, may be interlocked or synchronized to the movement of the sheet. In other words, control of the apparatus which may be effected by a repeat cycle controller or logical switching controls, may include means for starting and stopping the motor for driving the sheet feeding means to position a new portion of sheet material at the forming station shown in FIG. 6 and means operated when the forward drive of the sheet is terminated, for advancing either or both the dies 54 and 57 to compress the sheet between the two and the member 46' and also for opening a valve or valves to admit fluid under pressure to volume 55 or remove fluid from volume 58' as described. The servo means for rotating and otherwise moving die 55 to cut the deformed portion of sheet as described is also predeterminately controlled during an operational cycle by the same cycle controller controlling the other servos.

In FIG. 6, it is also noted that sheet member 46 may also comprise a second sheet of packaging material such as paperboard against which the peripheral portions of the sheet 50 are adapted to be heat sealed or welded. In such an apparatus arrangement, the die 55 may be properly heated and operated to compress and weld or bond the semi-molten sheet 50 thereto. Sheet 50 may comprise an ionomer resin which will seal directly to paperboard or the sheet 46' may be coated with a heat sealable resin adapted to be welded to sheet 50 by the compressive action of the rim of die 55 thereagainst. Die 55 may also be provided with a sharp edge for severing portions of the material defining the sealed assembly of sheet 50, 46 and the articles disposed therebetween, during the same stroke used for the described sealing or welding action.

Movable die and support means of the type defined by notations 55 and 58 in FIG. 6 may be utilized to drape the sheet material 50 of FIGS. 4 and 5 over the respective forms or assemblies and to support the cooperating sheet or plate members 46 and 46' during the draping and vacuum of pressure forming of said sheets to provide the assemblies described prior to the operation of the welding or cutting dies 27a and 47b. The dies 55 and 56 may be located at the same station as the dies 47a and 4712 or upstream thereof. Synchronization of the operation of such forming and cutting dies and the application of vacuum and/ or positive pressure to effect forming of the sheet material about the form or product may be effected by timing means such as a multicircuit, self resetting timer, by interlocking the movement of the conveyor or plates 46, 46' with the movement and operation of the described dies or by sensing means such as photoelectric detectors operative for detecting to deformed portions of the sheet material and/ or the forms or articles on the conveyor to be encased within said sheet material. If the sheet material 50 is flexible or rigid polyvinyl chloride or other polymer which is capable of being electronically heat sealed and sheets 46 or 46 are also made of such a material, then dies 55 and 58 may be suitable electronic heat sealing dies connected to a source of radiofrequency energy and ground, with pad 59 being omitted, to effect electronic sealing of said sheets together.

I claim:

1. A container assembly apparatus comprising:

(a) means for predeterminately locating the end of a container such as a bottle and a sheet of packaging material,

(b) means for deforming a portion of said sheet into conforming relation with the end of said container,

(0) means for drawing a portion of said sheet completely around and against the wall of said container, and

(d) cutting means movable towards the wall of said container and operable to sever the deformed portion of said sheet from the rest of the sheet.

2. A container assembly apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said deforming means is fluid pressure operable to deform said sheet.

3. A container assembly apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said deforming means is a vacuum forming means.

4. A container assembly apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sheet of packaging material is made of a thermoplastic resin and said sheet deforming means is operable to thermally deform said sheet.

5. A container assembly apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cutting means includes a cutting die which is operable to engage a portion of the sheet against the wall of said container.

6. A container assembly apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cutting means is operable to rotate about said container and spin out said sheet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,343,358 3/1944 Anderson 53296 2,920,431 1/1960 Izurni 53296 X 2,036,105 3/ 1936 Strout 53292 2,056,720 10/1936 Glunz 53344 X 2,237,614 4/1941 Perrone 53339 UX 2,387,747 10/1945 Cowley 5330 X 2,586,446 2/1952 Stockburger 5342 X 3,013,371 12/1961 Gamble 53329 3,348,358 10/ 1967 Sternau 53--42 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner N. ABRAMS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 53112, 329 

